BOCA RATON, FL (May 5, 2011)–
Florida Atlantic University will confer more than 2,650 degrees on
Thursday, May 5 and Friday, May 6, during five commencement
ceremonies, in the Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium
on the Boca Raton campus. This commencement marks the 100th
ceremony as the University celebrates its 50th anniversary this
year. The new graduates join 120,000 alumni who have graduated from
FAU since the university opened its doors 50 years ago.
“All commencement celebrations are special occasions, but the
fact that this is the 100th in the 50-year history of Florida
Atlantic University makes it historic,” said FAU President
Mary Jane Saunders. “We congratulate all of our graduates on
their many accomplishments and hope they will continue to take part
in the life of FAU as active alumni.”
The 9 a.m. ceremony on Friday will honor Kenneth Herman ‘75
with the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame Award. Herman was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service in 1977,
when he worked at the Lufkin Daily News alongside its editor Joe
Murray, for stories that uncovered serious problems in Marine
recruiting and training practices in east Texas. Herman is
currently a columnist and editorial board member for the Austin
American-Statesman.
Honorary doctoral degrees will be awarded on Friday, May 6 to
Arthur Jaffe in the 9 a.m. ceremony and Michael Turvey, Ph.D. in
the 1 p.m. ceremony. Jaffe was an Army intelligence officer
in World War II and then a member of the Haganah Jewish defense
force which helped to establish the nation of Israel. A
former businessman and fundraiser for the Carnegie Institute and
various Jewish organizations, he has donated 12,000 rare and
artistic books to FAU’s S.E. Wimberly Library. He also
is the curator for the Jaffe Center at FAU, which offers classes in
papermaking and hand-set letterpress printing.
Turvey is a professor emeritus in psychology for the University of
Connecticut, known for his pioneering work in the ecological
approach to perception. He was part of a team that did
seminal work in extending principles of self-organizing physical
and chemical systems to biological movement. Turvey has
received numerous awards and honors, including the 2011 Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Society of Experimental
Psychologists. He has served as a guest lecturer, visiting
faculty member and conference participant at FAU’s Center for
Complex Systems and Brain Sciences.
Local philanthropist and FAU benefactor Christine E. Lynn and
veterinarian Dr. Morris Povar will be awarded with the
President’s Distinguished Service Medallion on Friday, May 6,
at 1 p.m. Lynn and her late husband, Eugene, were among the
original donors to FAU’s nursing program in 1979, also
donating $10 million to name and construct the Christine E. Lynn
College of Nursing building which opened in 2006.
Povar served as a laboratory researcher during World War II and led
a food inspection team during the Korean War. After private
practice in Rhode Island, Povar became director of Brown
University’s Animal Care Facility where he taught, conducted
research and authored articles for scholarly journals. After
retirement, he contributed his time and expertise to the
establishment of FAU’s Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee in FAU’s Division of Research for 20 years.
The first cohort of students in the Master of Arts in Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual Education will
graduate from the College of Education’s department of
curriculum, culture and educational inquiry on Thursday, May 5, at
5 p.m. Graduates of this program promote English language
acquisition, bilingualism and bi-literacy for increasing student
achievement and promoting workplace opportunities for adult
learners of English.
Four students also will be the first to graduate from FAU’s
geomatics engineering program in the College of Engineering and
Computer Science’s department of civil, environmental and
geomatics engineering on Thursday, May 5, at 5 p.m. Geomatics
engineers, also known as land surveyors, design, develop and
operate systems for collecting and analyzing spatial information
about the land, oceans, natural resources and manmade features.
Spring commencement also is highlighting the accomplishments of
several outstanding graduates, including:
•
Marc Abdelnour will earn a bachelor’s degree in business
administration majoring in finance from the College of Business on
Thursday, May 5, at 9 a.m., and has been FAU’s top tennis
player for the last three years, recently earning All-Sun Belt
Conference honors. Nationally ranked in both singles and
doubles, he was named “Male Athlete of the Year” at FAU
for 2011.
•
Hayden Trepeck will receive his master’s degree in business
administration from FAU’s College of Business on Thursday,
May 5, at 1 p.m. Trepeck founded the Entrepreneurship Club student
organization at FAU, contributed to the entrepreneurship
initiatives at FAU as special assistant to former FAU Interim
President John Pritchett and former FAU Interim Provost Diane
Alperin, served as chief of staff to the Student Government
president, and promoted athletic events at the University.
•
Vesta Wilhoite will receive her bachelor’s degree in social
work with an elders certificate from the College for Design and
Social Inquiry on Thursday, May 5, at 1 p.m., despite several
ambulatory disabilities including peripheral neuropathy and
osteoporosis. At the age of 52, Wilhoite served as president
of the Phi Alpha Honor Society and has successfully lobbied state
legislators for the last two years on behalf of the elderly
population.
•
Candace Marie Hackett will receive a master’s degree in fine
arts with a concentration in acting from the Dorothy F. Schmidt
College of Arts and Letters on Friday, May 6, at 9 a.m.
Hackett is a stuntwoman and fight choreographer who is trained in
high profile stunts and six weapons styles. She is currently
performing in the Florida Grand Opera’s version of “Don
Giovanni.”
Some interesting statistics regarding the spring graduating class
include the fact that 108 of the degree recipients are over the age
of 50. The oldest graduate is 67 and the youngest graduate is
17. The graduates represent 54 countries. More than 100
graduates have a 4.0 grade point average.
For the convenience of family members and friends who cannot attend
the commencement ceremonies, the proceedings will be cybercast at
www.fau.edu.

-FAU-

About
Florida Atlantic University:

Florida
Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its
doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. In
commemoration of its origin, FAU is celebrating its 50th
anniversary throughout 2011. Today, the University serves more
than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses
and sites. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty
serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt
College of Arts & Letters, the College of Business, the
College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College
of Education, the College of Engineering & Computer
Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors
College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt
College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity
institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. For more information, visitwww.fau.edu.